The Ministry of Transport ignores public complaints

Text and pics by Dayarathna Pathirana
Commuters yesterday complained of the dilapidated buildings at the Panadura bus depot.

In response officials at the depot said the Transport Ministry had been notified of the issue, but the commuters not satisfied with that reiterated the buildings were a danger to everyone.

One of two, this depot is used by hundreds of commuters everyday with a large number of buses starting and ending their journeys there. Even bus drivers said the two buildings of the depot did not have a dry area during the monsoon season because the roof leaked badly.

Depot workers said the depot which was constructed in 1960 had not been renovated in over 20 years. “The depot fills with children in the mornings and after school,” said D. A. Chamara Munasinghe a bus driver. Munasinghe said that last year the authorities had spent Rs. 70 lakhs to renovate the roads in the depot. “Now the entire place floods during rain and commuters can’t even come out of the buildings because of it, ” he said.

Sudath Samarasinghe a regular commuter a father of two said he did not allow his two children to come to the depot alone. “This depot is filled with people both morning and evening and after school. We worry if we would walk out of the place alive because the buildings and their roofs are unstable,” he said.

An official of the depot who wished to remain anonymous said they had informed the Ministry of Transport of the short comings on many occasions. “We know the buildings are unstable. We hope necessary measures to rectify the situation would be taken soon,” the official said.